Columbia Office of Undergraduate Admissions (artist’s rendering)

33,460 prospies applied to our fair university (during both the Early and Regular Decision rounds) this year. According to Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid Jessica Marinaccio:

“We have received 33,460 applications to Columbia College and The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science for the Class of 2017, a five percent increase from last year. We are thrilled that so many students are considering Columbia as one of their college choices and look forward to learning about these applicants over the course of the next few months as we continue with our review process.”

Since Columbia College and Fu SEAS only accept around 2,400 students each year, some 93% of these eager applicants will be rejected. Current Columbia students, on the other hand, will experience unearned pride: 33,460 applications isn’t quite as high as two years ago (when we received 34,929 applications) but it’s much higher than last year’s numbers. Since a university’s prestige is apparently proportional to how many high school seniors they make cry, this means we’re still one of the best schools in the country.

Fourth-best, to be precise.

Admissions officers via Shutterstock